Monday, December 3

Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Home Sweet Home

The following are yesterday's verbatim forecasts from weather underground for two cities where I have lived. I still live in one. Can you guess which?

A. Freezing rain...sleet and periods of freezing drizzle...then rain...freezing rain...snow and freezing drizzle with possible sleet. Precipitation may be heavy at times. Snow and sleet accumulation around an inch. Lows in the mid 20s. Temperature rising into the mid 30s. Northeast winds around 5 mph...increasing to 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.

B. Sunny. High 73. Light winds.

I'll give you a hint. It's not A.

How do you decide where to live? Is it the weather? The quality of the public schools? Or is it based on the proximity to her mother's house? (Or for him, the distance from her mother's house?) Jeff and I have sacrificed things to live here in San Diego -- primarily family and finances. It sometimes seems like the right choice, and other times, not.

Take this weekend for example. We have all heard ad nauseam how the housing market is tanking. However, when Jeff and I talked to some realtors in San Diego, we learned that there are "micro-markets which are exempt from the decline."

Beautiful. 3.5 million square miles of dropping real estate in the US, and Jeff and I picked the 40 square feet where prices are still going up.

Unlike Jeff and me, Peabody's house hunting days are over. She and her husband have a lovely new home, and to celebrate, Peabody is hosting a housewarming party. I'm bringing her homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter. I know, that's the longest name ever, but it's not mine, it's Giada's.

When my parents were here for Thanksgiving, they gushed so much about Giada's sweet potato gnocchi that I surprised my dad and made them for his birthday. Honestly, they were delicious. Made with baked sweet potatoes and creamy fresh ricotta cheese, these gnocchi are pillowy and comforting. I especially love the way the fragrant, sweet, maple sauce clings to the grooves.Here is Giada's recipe for Sweet Potato Gnocchi from her show Everyday Italian on the Food Network. For a copy of the recipe only, click here. I made the following changes:

I substituted Garnet yams for sweet potatoes.

I used pretty purple sage instead of green.

I used about half the butter Giada called for, but that's up to you.

I added toasted pecans on top because what's maple syrup without pecans?

See these posts for nice step-by-step photos on how to hand-make gnocchi.

I'm genuinely impressed because I tried to make sweeet potato gnocchi at the weekend (in my kitchen aid, a la cookthink's method) and I ended up tipping the whole sorry lot into the bin! For anybody else about to have a go, I think where I went wrong was mashing the potatoes too vigorously so that they went all gluteny. After than no amount of flour would make the dough come together. Oh well, another day...

Thanks for providing all those links - I'll try out Giada's method of baking the potatoes next time!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi and pecans! That's just got to be good! And your photos only look better. This really looks fabulous and perfect for Peabody's. The snow in Seattle was pretty fun! Just about the right amount and then gone. No snow in Dallas.Lucky you on those 40 sq miles . . . wishing you good house hunting.

Peabody-I'm glad you like it. I hope you make the gnocchi on your next snowy day!

Pille-Thanks! It was delicious.

T.W.-Ooh, a food matchmaker, huh? I like that.

Anh-make sure you have the gnocchi before the house hunting for extra energy!

Sophie-I have found baking the potatoes preferable to boiling since they're drier and easier to work with. I've always made gnocchi by hand too. They're really easy, so I hope you give them another try! Good luck! :)

Patricia-See you there! ;)

Tanna-Thanks! I'm sure you get as much snow in Dallas as we get in SD. ;)

I once made gnocchi very similar to this recipe, and my boyfriend and I both hated it. Inedible. Then I bought some regular gnocchi at the grocery store and we hated that too. Maybe we just aren't gnocchi people.

YUM! That is awesome. Real maple syrup here costs about $14 for a small bottle. Ouch. I hope to someday be able to try to make something similar (not with pancake syrup I hope).

Thanks for commenting on my blog! I'm fairly confident of my cookies, except that I don't have a frame of reference as they're my first-- some people seem to be reliving childhood gingerbread memories, and I hope mine live up to them!

Gnocchi is my favorite!Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and Celebrity Foods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!

Great way to start out your post :-). My husband and I are like you guys -- we've sacrificed a lot to live here in Healdsburg instead of someplace else that has cheaper housing or better schools. But, to us, the joy we derive from living here every day is worth it.

Thankfully, we bought our house just before the major rise in real estate prices, so now I'm grateful for that "market immunity." Good luck on your search!

A crime against humanity (the answer to What's maple syrup without pecans)They look wonderful.... and maple syrup with sage...yumm!It's not sunny and 75 here. Rumor has it that the next time we'll see the sun is June or if we leave, whichever comes first!

Yeah, snow and cold. I know that weather all to well, having spent my whole life in Canada.

These gnocchi are gorgeous. I love the sweet earthy flavour of sweet potato, and I'll take any opportunity to use it (in fact, I have some sweet potato fried roasting right now!). Thanks for a sophisticated use of sweet potato!

My husband and I chose to live in LA (separately, this is where we met) for work purposes. However, I feel very ready to move. The housing market in the areas we love seem impenetrable, my closest friends are the farthest away, and I truly miss the snow. Not to mention the horror of the traffic! But LA has one major advantage over other parts of the country - produce! I believe you have blogged about this a few times, as San Diego is no different. I would miss all of the wonderful produce (avocados!!!) all year long.

Leosatter-I'm sorry, but I don't know of any to recommend. If I come across something, I'll send it to you. Good luck!

Cakespy-Wow! Thanks!

Swirlingnotions-You're lucky!

Bazu-Make some gnocchi to warm yourself up!

Katie-Maybe you should buy one of those artificial sunlight lamps. ;)

Hanne-Hanne-What a fortunate coincidence! I hope you like them.

Foodette-Seriously! I have joked that produce is the main reason we live here. The truth is, it may not be the main reason, but it sure ranks pretty high! I don't miss LA traffic either; SD has traffic but not as bad as LA and OC. Drive saftely!

Yum! Your gnocchi look soooooo good. I love the purple sage and pecan variation. My husband and I tried making butternut squash gnocchi on a weeknight once. Really big mistake. Hours and hours later, we were hungry and still not done. I think I have recovered and may just have to try out this recipe since it looks so divine. I cut and pasted your page of just the recipe which is very convenient. Thanks!